Inalienable Rights: Free and Enslaved Blacks Crafting a Life in the Shenandoah Valley

Inalienable Rights: Free and Enslaved Blacks Crafting a Life in the Shenandoah Valley will be Saturday, November 12. Belle Grove Plantation will be open free of charge and feature special programming on the African American history of the site and of the Shenandoah Valley with special guests from The Slave Dwelling Project and Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park. This joins several days of programming by the Slave Dwelling Project in the area.

Thursday, November 10, 7 p.m.
St. Thomas Chapel, 7854 Church Street, Middletown, VA 22645
Learn about the Battle of Cedar Creek. Kenyette Spencer Mills, descendent of free Black potter Abraham Spencer, will read from the 1915 book Battleground Adventures in which her ancestor, Serena Spencer, recorded her remembrances of the battle. Shannon Moeck, Park Ranger of Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park, will discuss the Battle of Cedar Creek’s larger impact on the civilian community. Register through the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. This event is pay what you can.

Friday, November 11, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Burwell Morgan Mill, 15 Tannery Lane, Millwood, VA 22646
Living historians Joseph McGill, Terry James, and Cheney McKnight will conduct hearth cooking demonstrations and discussions of how enslaved labor was used in this space. More information here. This event is free with donations suggested.

Friday, November 11, 7 p.m.
Blandy Experimental Farm Library, 400 Blandy Farm Lane, Boyce, VA 22620
Panel discussion about interpreting African American history by members of the Slave Dwelling Project (more details to come).

Saturday, November 12, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Belle Grove Plantation, 336 Belle Grove Road, Middletown, VA 22645
(tentative schedule)
10 a.m. Following the Footprints of Slavery presentation by Joseph McGill, Founder of the Slave Dwelling Project
11 a.m. Shannon Moeck, Ranger, Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park, Kneading in Silence: A Glimpse into the Life of Enslaved Cook Judah
12 p.m. Lunch break for presenters, Belle Grove Manor House open for touring
1 p.m. Tammy Denease, Executive Artistic Director of the Hidden Women Stage Company, storytelling presentation on Elizabeth Keckly
2 p.m. Presentation by Cheney McKnight, founder of Not Your Momma’s History
3 p.m. Presentation by Terry James, Slave Dwelling Project Board Member
4 p.m. Presentation by Kristen Laise, Executive Director of Belle Grove, on the freedom seekers from the plantation. The site is now on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
5 p.m. Shannon Moeck, Ranger, Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park, Free at Last: The Complicated Road to Freedom for the Jackson Family